0:00
/
0:00
Rinus VeeKay
About this episode
Rinus VeeKay opens up about his breakthrough season with Dale Coyne Racing, celebrating his first podium and consistent top-10 finishes. He discusses the strategic approach that helped secure strong results, the impact of working with experienced engineer Mike Cannon, and his long-term ambitions to become an IndyCar legend. VeeKay also shares insights on his early transition from Europe to North America, the importance of family support, and navigating the uncertainties of contract talks amid a competitive driver market.
Topics:
rinus veekay
dale coyne racing
indycar podium
race strategy
mike cannon
driver development
career goals
family support
contract negotiations
road to indy
Cars:
Dodge Charger
Despite Hinch's bad internet, Rinus VeeKay came on to discuss his impressive 2025 season.
+++
Off Track is part of the SiriusXM Sports Podcast Network. If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more, please give a 5-star rating and leave a review. Subscribe today wherever you stream your podcasts.
Want some Off Track swag? Check out our store!
Check out our website, www.askofftrack.com
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel.
Want some advice? Send your questions in for Ask Alex to [email protected]
Follow us on Twitter at @askofftrack. Or individually at @Hinchtown, @AlexanderRossi, and @TheTimDurham.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Filter:
|
Technical
Too Afraid to Ask
Car
Dodge Charger
"...races back to back coming, you know, being a hard charger coming from the back and really moving forward on..."
Select text to request an explanation
This is, is off track.
Gentlemen, welcome. Welcome to Off Track with Hinch
or Rossi this week.
It is. You guess it, Tim, take it away, pal.
No, I'm just kidding. Don't do that.
No, seriously, don't talk. Just shut up.
Uh, no, we're joined.
We're very happy to be joined this week by a guest and not just any guest.
A very special guest, Mr. Reus vk joins us this week.
Uh, welcome to the show, bud. Thank
You.
Thank you. It's, uh, good to be here for the first time.
Yeah. First time, uh, first time guest.
I, I assume long time listener.
I, you know, I assume you just regularly listen to Off Track with in Generosity. Oh,
Yes.
I wake up every day longing for a new episode.
Yes. He would be
The only one of the three of us that does Correct, Correct.
Or any fan or any, any listener whatsoever.
Uh, before we started, I, I was just commenting on your helmet collection behind you, and I said, I really like the one that's directly behind your head.
Yeah. That one there. Yes.
Yeah. And you said that my national helmet
said was, yeah, your national helmet.
I love that. Prize possession. I'm my helmet
Short, but I put the brackets up, so I might as well put that on.
You gotta put something up there. Yes.
Is that, like, is that not the one that you wore when you did your little spin?
Did you, did you wear a cowboy hat when you did your famous spin intro at the Indy 500?
Not at the 500, but I did it a few times in Nashville, Texas.
I actually bought it in Nashville.
Uh, it's real Stetson, but, uh, I only found out when my card was in the reader that it was real. So
From the cost then I take it?
Yes, it was a bit too expensive. Is James
Frozen up a little bit?
Yes, he might be shook. All Right. You're back, James.
Alright. You look better this
time. ,
I'm gonna take that as a compliment. Yes. Um,
Well, quality wise, Yeah, that's Oh, oh, so not, I don't physically.
Okay. No. Yeah, no, yeah, I knew,
I knew such meant, knew touch meant.
Yeah, it's fine. It's fine.
uh, well, yeah, sorry for that little interruption, but s obviously, you know, you're coming off an incredible weekend in Toronto.
I'm still up in Canada. I can see you're back home.
Jim didn't bother making it out for the trip, but just, just talk to me man about the feelings of getting your first podium of the year, first podium with Dale Coin Racing last week in Toronto.
Yeah, it was awesome. It was, it was just, uh, it,
it was waiting to happen.
Uh, we had all these races back to back coming, you know, being a hard charger coming from the back and really moving forward on strategy into the top 10.
But we never really started up front, so that was gonna be my focus.
We just need to build a car that's gonna be, you know, good enough from the get go and, you know, something we can roll off quick and, and qualify well with.
So we qualified ninth. Pretty good. Good.
Way better than, you know, the best of 18 to had in the last five.
So, uh, then going to, uh, coming into the race, we just maximized strategy and uh, we got it right once again, which, uh, you know, Del Coin Racing is known, known for.
And, um, yeah, I mean, this is my first podium in 60 races, so Wow.
Pretty big. It feels, feels good
to be back on on the podium.
Yeah, no doubt. So, I mean, I kind
of wanna talk about a couple of things you touched on there.
Um, you know, you've had this incredible run of, of top 10 finishes this year, and normally, as you kind of alluded to, they've been coming from further back starting positions than you'd like, certainly starting positions outside the top 10.
So when you find yourself starting inside the top 10, you've got this great qualifying position in ninth, like you said, is it, are you more worried about maintaining that position?
Or are you thinking, Hey, if I can move up from 20th into the top 10 now that I'm starting in the top 10, I mean, top five is a realistic goal? Um,
Both, I would say yes.
Um, if you look at the, our stats, we should be moving forward, but also it's, it's, you know, you're, you're starting in the back kind of no pressure at all before the raise, kind of, well, whatever happens, happens, we'll, we'll, we'll we'll see, we'll see out there, and now you're starting in nine and see, just have a bit more pressure and you, you gotta move forward.
So, um, I knew we were gonna be on that kind of weird strategy to start with going along on the alternates.
Uh, but I had a lot of faith in it.
I, I knew exactly what we needed to do to make that, make that work.
So, uh, even though we were struggling in the beginning, keeping them under underneath, you know, we had one less stop to go at the end.
So when you, when you talk about, uh, the kind of strategy play, because this was a, this was very much a, a strategy race, right?
I mean, there were a few different times when the field split under caution kind of Road America esque in that sense, Dale Coin racing and, and Dale as a strategist in particular, he is known for being able to roll the dice and, and kind of read the strategy Well, how much were you involved in those decisions that were being made when, I mean, obviously you were, you were involved in the very first decision, which was to start on the softs and try to do it a little bit differently.
But then as the race evolved and we saw some of the cautions come out and we saw some of the wrong decisions made by some big teams, what's that process like between you and Dale, you know, on the racetrack making those strategy calls? Well,
I have to say, actually this was exactly our plan, what we did.
So before the race, kind of after to warm up, which wasn't really a warm up with a little bit of driving we did in the wet, um, we, yeah, we basically made the plan to go long and, you know, just kind of stick with it.
So that's exactly what we did.
And, um, yeah, I think it did, it worked for us.
We didn't have to, to do any crazy things out there on track.
We, we didn't have to make any crazy calls, but that's, I mean, that's how, how it went.
Uh, we just kind of went with the plan.
You stuck again, huh?
Sorry man. We're we're getting you just fine.
I'm up in the middle of nowhere, so my internet's terrible. I apologize.
No, it's fine. This would be better if I had any
insightful questions and could pick up the slides , but no, it was just awkward silence for me. ,
oh, the war. See Reina,
this is why we're not even sure why we hire this guy, why we keep him around, but it's fine. Um,
We all have these people our Lives, we have these people, we have these people. ,
um, Sonas tell me, I mean, coming into this year, you know, you and I have talked obviously outside of this show, but about how the, the change from ECR came as a surprise.
Dale jumped in pretty quick, you know, even though the deal wasn't announced until fairly close to the season, you guys did that test together in October at the Speedway.
You were pretty confident, you know, from an early phase that it was going in the right direction.
So you probably knew a bit more than the rest of us.
But when you came into this year, what were realistic expectations for you in terms of, you know, how many top tens you guys thought you could get and, you know, what sort of position the championship you thought you'd be running it?
I think a realistic goal for me was P 16 or top 16 in the championship.
Um, and I would say, you know, like three, four top tens would would've been, you know, pretty, pretty big after, after last season for them with no finished benefit, 13th.
So that was, for me, a realistic goal.
But, you know, you never really know what to expect.
I, I hated setting goals to the beginning of the season because I didn't know how we, how we were gonna be every weekend. So
With obviously having a little bit of a momentum now behind you guys, I mean, have the conversations changed?
Are, are you starting to expect more outta the weekend?
Does that come with more disappointment if you don't get that?
I mean, we, we've been getting top tens most of the time.
Uh, we've, we've been doing so well. Uh, yes.
I mean, IO was a struggle.
We, we didn't have any base in qualifying, but still finishing 12 to 16th was pretty big.
So as long as we keep maximizing what we have, you know, strategies on our side, it's not gonna be like that every race.
So if, if we get strategy to not go our way and we still maximize, that's all we could do.
So, you know, I, I think we're at that this point of the season where we know what we need to show up with every race in, in, in the every race coming up.
So we, we've got that experience at this point.
So, Rena, with the success that you've had, uh, with Dale, and you know, obviously it was a, it was a tough last kinda year at ECR, but it's just been such a revelation here and, and you've talked about the sort of family atmosphere.
It's, it's the people around you that are really helping you kind of get the best outta yourself.
Again, you're putting up these incredible results.
I don't know, are you allowed to tell us, are you on a multi-year deal with Dale Coin Racing?
Or was it a, is it a one and, and then see what happens?
Uh, yeah, it's just a one year deal for now because it all came together so late.
You know, both of us.
Yeah, we, we, I just took what, what Dale gave me , Uh, point As you do, As you do, I needed to be IndyCar. We've,
We've heard some things about, uh, about the, the agreements that Dale can coined driver skidder sometimes don't get , , Hey, I'm driving, I'm driving happy To be in the car, happy to be in the car and kicking ass.
My stock has gone crazy since Dale hired me.
So , he made a good investment.
So that, that leads me to my next question is, with only a handful of races left in the season, you know, silly season starts a little bit earlier these days than it did five, 10 years ago.
Has this led to conversations with other teams?
Do you have any idea what 2026 looks like for you?
Is it staying with Dale? Are you exploring other options?
Kind of where, where are we at?
He's got power seat, right? ? Well,
We're not even sure what he, he's not even sure about his future.
But I mean, for, for me, yes, I'm, I'm exploring every, every option I see around me right now, just, just seeing what is best for my, for my career in the long term.
Um, there is some more chatter around me.
Yes, there's some, you know, some, some pulling on my shirt going on, but I, things are still moving and it's still really dependent on other, on other pieces of the puzzle.
So, um, best thing I can do right now is just be successful, keep doing this.
It's gonna be good for me, good for Dale, good for whoever profits from it.
So that's, that's basically what I'm, what my goal is for now is to just keep doing what we're doing and, uh, hopefully get a top 10 in the championship.
Correct me if I'm wrong, Mike Cannon's engineering you at the moment, right?
Yes, he is. And so, you know, Mike Cannon comes with,
I don't even know how many years, decades of IndyCar experience and IndyCar success, not just experience.
I mean, he's been winning at the highest level for a long time.
Just kind of talk to me what it's like, you know, getting to work with somebody that's got that sort of track record and what has he kind of brought to your program, taught you as a driver, you know, what has his, how has his experience kind of helped you perform in this new environment? Yeah,
So he, he brings a lot of consistency to our team.
I think that's the biggest thing.
You know, we, we had some success before he joined, uh, after the 500.
But yeah, he just brings us consistency, like showing up with top 10 pace every weekend.
And I think what he really brought to me as what he is teaching me is, you know, he worked with Scott Dixon, the, the Master of Fuel Saving.
So my green, green mileage was great, it was fine.
It was the yellow mileage, how to save fuel with the Honda engine under Pace car laps.
Is that, that's where you make a big difference.
So, uh, he's, he's been pushing me there.
Like the first real race I did with him was Gateway.
He is like, I'll give you this number for yellow.
I'm like, what? How's that possible?
So, but at the end of the race I made it.
So it's just things like that, that open up strategy make things easier for, for, for Dale and, and the other guys Underst stand and, um, he also has, just has a good leadership role within the team, you know, to the tire guy.
Just little things, you know, little management roles on the timing stand where he just, you know, takes that very well. Wait
A year you're what now?
24, 25, 24?
Yes. 24. And you're in your sixth
season of IndyCar. I'm
Very, I just wanna Say I'm very against people that much younger than me doing this. Well, yeah,
Sorry. Yeah,
I'm sorry.
And, and Tim, I I maybe missed the, the second part.
He's in his sixth season. No, I caught at the age of 20.
Love it. Right? I just didn't like it. Right.
I mean, is it weird person for you arenas to think about the fact that you are 24 years old and you already have this much experience in IndyCar racing.
I mean, 18 year olds don't get opportunities like that and make it last.
I mean, the few times I've seen it in my career before you, those drivers didn't end up having long careers in IndyCar.
I mean, you are a bit of a phenom in that sense.
Do you, do you appreciate that at this point?
Oh, I really do. I really do.
And, uh, I mean, for me, my goal is to be in IndyCar for the next 20 some odd years and turn into, you know, one of the big, some of the big guys you're Going after Dixon's record, aren't you?
Oh yes. You're going after his star record.
Oh, yes. Oh.
And hopefully his win record too, but there you go.
Um, So yeah, for me, I mean, I was telling my manager Adrian Sussman, that I'm worried about getting too old at this point, .
So, and I said, yeah, I want you to know something.
Do something before it gets too old.
He's like, old, you're 24. So I,
I want you to appreciate something here.
I got into IndyCar at 24, my rookie season was 24. So like, well that's
'cause they had just invented the internal combustion engine.
God, I hate you. So I'm not Hunter Ray. Calm down .
But I mean, no, dude, it's, it's incredible that you've had not only this number of races, but the success that you've had at this age.
And it's, I I, I'm, I was curious, and I'm interested to hear you say the fact that you are gunning for those records, you wanna be the guy that's racing here till you 45 and has maybe the first guy to reach 500 IndyCar starts.
Like is that ki is that the kind of thing you think about?
Oh, yes, yes. And, uh, I just wanna be, I want my name
to be synonymous with IndyCar.
So, you know, when you think of IndyCar, Scott Dixon, it's willpower.
It's, well, a few years ago, Ryan Hunter Ray, it's people like that, you know, that it is just, it's my goal to be, to be one of the legends in the sport.
Like, like, like they are.
And, um, yeah, I mean just, just IndyCar itself, like I have no, no, no interest in driving anything else than IndyCar.
IndyCar is just the, the thing I live for at the moment.
So tell me about how this sort of came about, because obviously, you know, growing up in the Netherlands, everybody in Europe's original dream is def one, but you always stood out to me because you were one of the guys that made the transition in North American racing very early.
You came over, you know, on the road to Indy, you won championships, you kind of excelled through that, that c or that program.
What was it for you that was so appealing to IndyCar that made you from such a young age want to come over, you know, stateside and, and try that on front for size?
I think the first thing for me, the, the, the biggest thing when I first came over is the, at that point it was the master road to Indy, but just the latter system towards IndyCar where success actually gets you to the top.
Where in Europe, you know, there's numerous of Formula three, formula two drivers that win championships, but just don't get the shots in, in F1.
So it's just, uh, you know, for us, we didn't wanna be one of those guys where yeah, you're, you're winning stuff in, you know, on the way to F1, but then you get stuck because politically and financially it just can't, there there's no place for you.
So for me, NICAR was the spot and I just, you know, when I first started racing in the US and, and, and the road to India was just, yeah, I mean, you, you race in the same weekends, you fall in love with it right away.
So that, so that was really it.
I mean, growing up was, was F1 what you watched and kind of what you originally aspired to, to get to when you were, you know, carting we say at, uh, a young age?
Initially, yes. I would say when I was a little kid,
you know, every Sunday races were on, and I mean, I rely on like, is not just a name in the Netherlands, you know, he's, he's, he's, he has a big identity, so I've always looked up to him, to IndyCar and you know, you just grow up with everything.
You know, you're go-karting.
If we're not practicing, we're watching F1, right?
It's just on, on TVs.
So that's kind of the, the, the local sport, the, the national sport.
But then when you, when you look further is, you know, IndyCar is getting so much more popular right now also just because of me being in there. For sure,
For sure. I get it. I believe
It.
That's why I started watching Finally , I mean, in the Netherlands, I'm not making that much of a hit yet in the US .
So we've got 17 million people.
So we're, we're, we're getting here.
Hey, I'm, I'm, I'm part Dutch.
I'll, I'll, I'll claim some of that.
Don't you speak some Dutch Tim?
No, Hazel was trying to learn it and I, I, no offense, I don't know why like, we're, we're from a very big Dutch family, but I was just like, but like, when are you gonna use that in Los Angeles? ?
Like, Well, she goes to the race lot.
It could have been to communicate with Reus.
Yeah, there you go. There you go. You can help her out.
She's, uh, she'll, I'll get her to start her Duolingo again. Oh, yes.
Those are weird sentences. That's
Language has ever learned a language from Duolingo, Um, reus, you know, I've always admired the fact that, you know, family is obviously a really big part of your life and a big part of your career.
You know, your parents, I think, I think I've seen them at every IndyCar race, you know, uh, maybe outside of COVID since you joined the series, your wife Carmen is there all the time as well.
How important for you is it to kind of have that, that very close support system of your family with you seemingly all the time? Yeah,
Yeah, it's just very important.
I mean, especially, you know, uh, with my parents, they, they sacrificed a lot for me to get into a ncar, uh, just as a family.
We did so did my sister.
Uh, so for, for them to be at all the races, you know, being there in Toronto, being there for my first win, just all that support.
Um, it's, it's very important to me because, you know, it, it, I I feel like that's my way to, uh, uh, like my, my way to repay them for, for everything I sacrificed, you know, success is just, you know, I feel like, like I'm, I'm, I'm doing the right thing there for them. Uh, and
Why is it, is it hard for parents to have a kid that's into racing?
I've never heard that. Terrible. I
Would never do it. .
Oh my God, there's no chance. Absolutely.
Like, I'm not having kids explicitly because I never want, I wouldn't want them to ever have an interest in racing.
So I'm not even gonna have kids. I don't risk yet.
I have, I have never met anyone in racing who says it's a good idea to get their kids into racing .
Yeah. And they still end up doing it too. Yeah.
Dixon's kids in a car right now, all harder race kids love driving car.
Like, I mean, they all say it, but they're all dumb and expose their kids to it and, and then they're gonna be, you know, wanna be drivers down the line.
It's gonna be a whole thing. Yeah, true.
I mean, worked out for That's true.
But then, you know, also my wife, this was her first podium that she was actually at in Toronto. Really?
So Yeah, that was pretty cool.
So, uh oh, that's very cool. 360 races has been so long.
Yeah. So, um, you know, it is, it is just awesome
to be on there, have them around and, uh, yeah, it is, it, it is just like you said, a support system that really, you know, it, it, it ma makes me feel at home, even in the us. And
Look, I mean, that support system is so crucial because a driver's career is up and down, right?
You have good days, bad days, you have good years and bad years.
And with what, you know, you went through in this off season, I bet having that support system there and and close to you was, was a huge boost and helped you kind of come back from that and, and find the success that you've had.
So kind of on that same path, the success that you've had this year, like the podium, even aside, I mean, all the top tens, all the strong results that, that you've had, the super strong Sundays that you've had, how rewarding is it for you as a driver and how, you know, confidence inspiring?
Is it for you coming off a year like 20, 24, you have what happens at the end of this season?
You drop by the team and then to come back with the smallest team on the grid, the lowest funded team on the grid, all the things that people kind of associate with Dale Coin to come into this year and have hit the ground running, have all the results that you've had now, the podium to your name.
I mean, how, how good does that feel?
And kind of how important was it to you to really make a statement this year?
Yeah, it was very important and it just feels, it feels super good, not just for me, but also for Dale.
We're kind of in the same redemption kind of story.
Um, different, you know, different ways we got there, but we, we both want the same thing.
So, um, yeah, just the, the story makes, makes it just so much better.
When I was the last guy to be signed, uh, right before the season now we've had seven top tens, which is my tide for best, with four races to go, really?
And yeah, yeah, year best season you Had seven top tens.
Yeah, so, so last year I had seven, which was my, my best in my incar career.
And now we're at seven.
Well, I hope we can get to 10 so that, you know, it is just so good.
It feels so good. And, um, I mean, do coin racing too.
They, they just, they make it all work and with the family too, you know, we suffer as a family and we, we, we celebrate succeed as a family.
Family, yeah. Yeah, exactly.
That's awesome. That's so cool.
Well, hey man, uh, we were just so, so impressed with everything you've done all year, but especially that drive on Sunday in Toronto, uh, I know that that champagne probably tasted a little bit sweeter than any of the ones that you've had.
So congrats on that. Oh yeah.
We wish you all the best for the remaining four races.
I'd love to see 10 top 10. Let's make it happen.
I'd love to see a top 10 in the points.
Let's make it happen. And then I'm super excited for you,
man, for the off season because you know, we've got a longer off season than normal and, uh, and there's some movement happening in the driver's market and I know that your name has now kind of reached fever pitch, you know, it's, it's top of the pile in terms of, uh, of the drivers that people are talking about.
So keep up the great work buddy.
Always been a fan, uh, always impressed with what you do and can't wait to see what the last four have in store for you. Yeah,
Yeah.
Thank you very much. Thanks for everything on the show
and, uh, well let's do another one.
When I got 10 top tens and top 10 in the Championship, that's a deal.
That's a deal. Okay, we'll see you at the end of the season.
Celebrate the 10. Alright. Alright, buddy, take care.
This has been off track with Hinch and Rossi.
Off Track is part of the Sirius XM Sports Podcast Network.
If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more, please give a five star rating and leave a review.
Subscribe today, wherever you stream your podcasts.
We are at Ask Offtrack on Twitter and Instagram.
And if you wanna follow us on Twitter, we're at Hinch Town and at Alexander Rossi.
If you wanna follow them Though, we have no idea why you would.
He's at the Tim Durham on Twitter.
Find us on YouTube and subscribe to our channel for exclusive video content.
Off Track is produced by Tim Durham, and by that we mean thi.
Request an explanation for:
1 cars
1 cars featured
Request an Explanation
Heard something you'd like explained? We'll add it to this episode.
Sign in to request explanations for terms you heard.
Want to learn more?
Browse our glossary for plain-English explanations of automotive terms, jargon, and concepts.
Help improve this episode
See something that's not quite right? Our annotations are AI-generated and can sometimes miss the mark. Click the flag icon on any annotation to suggest a correction.
Report incorrect info
Suggest better explanations
Flag missing cars